Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The first runner-up for Miss USA tells Fox News Channel that she may have lost her chance at the crown because of her answer to a question about same-sex "marriage." However, she says she had to stand on biblical truth.

On Sunday, Miss California Carrie Prejean, 21, was asked by blogger Perez Hilton, an open homosexual and one of the pageant's judges, about her stance on same-sex marriage. Responding, Prejean said she personally believed marriage should be between a man and a woman.

"We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country and in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman," she said. "No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised. I think that it should be between a man and a woman." (See YouTube video)

Although Miss North Carolina, Kristen Dalton, won the title, Prejean has made the rounds of television news and talk shows, addressing the controversy that her answer may have cost her the Miss USA crown. Prior to the interview segment of the pageant, Prejean reportedly was the hands-down favorite to win.

Story continues below ...

Did Carrie Prejean do the right thing in defending traditional marriage,

Appearing on Your World with Neal Cavuto on Tuesday, Prejean said she had "no regrets" about her answer.

Cavuto: "In this day and age, these kinds of views, we're told, are not politically correct -- [that] these are not the modern views."

Prejean: "Right -- and that's the thing I really need to think about: am I trying to be politically correct, or do I want to be biblically correct? And I think that I want to be biblically correct. All I could think about when I was standing there, answering that question was, 'Carrie, what are your beliefs?'"

The pageant contestant says she knew afterwards that she was not going to win because of her answer because she "had spoken from my heart, for my beliefs, and for my God..."

Prejean has shared that she is praying for Perez Hilton and has no animosity toward him -- despite his profanity-laced rant against her that he posted on his website following the pageant.

"I can only say to him that I will be praying for him," she told the Today show on Tuesday morning. "I feel sorry for him, I really do. I think he's angry, I think he's hurt. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. He asked me specifically what my opinion was on that subject, and I gave him an honest answer."

Prejean, a native of San Diego, is a junior at San Diego Christian College.

Monday, April 20, 2009

It seems that there is no place left where gay activists won’t attempt to force their agenda onto the rest of society. Same-sex marriage, of course, is at the top of their list.

Last night during the Miss USA contest, one of the contest judges, gay gossip blogger Perez Hilton, asked Miss California Carrie Prejean that since Vermont has now legalized gay marriage shouldn’t every state follow suit? Ms. Prejean had the courage to express her views and said, “Well, I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.”

Ms. Prejean’s comments were cheered by the crowd, but a smattering of jeers could be heard in the background by a few who were incensed at her answer. According to FoxNEWS.com, arguments broke out in the lobby of the theater, with one gay man shouting, "I think it's ridiculous that she got first runner-up. That is not the value of 95 percent of the people in this audience. Look around this audience and tell me how many gay men there are." Is there an unwritten rule that Miss USA contestants must hold values in agreement with homosexual activists?

For his own part, Hilton immediately cut a video blog where he ripped Ms. Prejean, calling her a “stupid b***h” and referring to her in language so vile that it can’t even be hinted at by its first letter.

Ms. Prejean was named runner-up in the contest and today there was considerable discussion in the blogosphere about whether her answer might have cost her the title. Prejean told FoxNEWS.com that she had “no regrets” and was happy with the answer she gave.

We’re very proud of Ms. Prejean for speaking her mind in support of traditional marriage. She represented the silent majority in America and expressed a point of view that over 7 million California voters also expressed just last November. In fact, in the history of this issue every single state that has voted on it has voted to affirm traditional marriage.

The outcry from some activists in the gay community over Ms. Prejean’s comments are indicative of how far they will go to force their same-sex marriage agenda on society. Miss California is vilified by Perez Hilton in a video blog for respectfully answering his question, and gay men are shouting against her in the theater lobby. Yet we are supposed to take homosexual leaders at face value that if same-sex marriage were legalized they would never force this teaching onto children in the schools.

Thank you, Miss California, for knowing the truth about marriage and standing up for it, even when you knew that your honest answer may hinder your chances for the crown of Miss USA.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

There is a huge misconception that those who oppose gay marriage and the “homosexual lifestyle” are nothing more than bigots and racist. This misconception has of course been planted not only by homosexuals but also by the extreme left (which includes much of the media such as CNN). I’m here to tell you that a majority of us who oppose homosexuality are in fact not racist in the least.

I have always supported civil rights (even before I knew what “civil rights” were). Growing up and to this very day I have never seen race as an issue. I believe strongly that all people are created equal. The colour of a person’s skin does not define who they are; rather, they themselves determine the kind of person they will become. Every race has good people and bad people. The fact of the matter is that homosexuality does not even remotely have anything to do with race.

Homosexuals claim that those of us who do not support their cause are racists, bigots and any other word they can come up with to that would paint a person as a racist. What makes this so ironic is the fact that the gay population was so quick to blame African Americans for Prop 8’s passage. Here’s a prime example:

“Geoffrey, a student at UCLA and regular Rod 2.0 reader, joined the massive protest outside the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Westwood. Geoffrey was called the n-word at least twice.

"It was like being at a klan rally except the klansmen were wearing Abercrombie polos and Birkenstocks. YOU NIGGER, one man shouted at men. If your people want to call me a FAGGOT, I will call you a nigger. Someone else said same thing to me on the next block near the temple...me and my friend were walking, he is also gay but Korean, and a young WeHo clone said after last night the niggers better not come to West Hollywood if they knew what was BEST for them."

Los Angeles resident and Rod 2.0 reader A. Ronald says he and his boyfriend, who are both black, were carrying NO ON PROP 8 signs and still subjected to racial abuse.

"Three older men accosted my friend and shouted, "Black people did this, I hope you people are happy!" A young lesbian couple with mohawks and Obama buttons joined the shouting and said there were "very disappointed with black people" and "how could we" after the Obama victory. This was stupid for them to single us out because we were carrying those blue NO ON PROP 8 signs! I pointed that out and the one of the older men said it didn't matter because "most black people hated gays" and he was "wrong" to think we had compassion. That was the most insulting thing I had ever heard. I guess he never thought we were gay."

Keep in mind that the above people were in fact gay... yet these mobs who have been violently hounding people and attacking churches, the very same people who preach tolerance have turned out to be the most intolerant of all. Wow… what a surprise.

Friday, April 17, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--"Gay rights" may be on the march nationwide, but thousands of Christian students from coast to coast will express a counter-cultural message in the coming days regarding homosexuality.

On Friday, students will participate in the second-annual Golden Rule Pledge, and on Monday in the fifth-annual Day of Truth. The separate events, sponsored by conservative Christian organizers, were established to give students an option to the Day of Silence, a yearly event backed by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) that is promoted as an anti-bullying event but is seen by many as supporting the entire homosexual agenda and giving a one-sided view of the debate over homosexuality.

This year's Day of Silence will take place on Friday, and GLSEN claims that hundreds of thousands of students from more than 8,000 schools participated last year. As part of the Day of Silence -- which was launched nationally in 1997 -- students take some form of a vow of silence to draw attention to bullying and name-calling toward homosexual students. The idea may sound innocent, but the group behind it is not, critics say. GLSEN is one of the nation's leading organizations attempting to get homosexuality-friendly curriculum in classrooms, including "age-appropriate" information for kindergarteners. GLSEN also is the supporter of gay-straight alliances in schools nationwide.

As part of Monday's Day of Truth students will pass out cards during non-class time with a message, which says in part, "It's time for an honest conversation about homosexuality. There's freedom to change if you want to." Participants in Friday's Golden Rule Pledge will hand out cards saying, "This is what I am going to do. I pledge to treat others the way I want to be treated. 'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Luke 6:31.)" Although the Golden Rule Pledge may appear non-controversial, the mere fact that a student would refuse to take part in the Day of Silence could be counter-cultural in some schools.

The cards are significant because Day of Silence participants pass out cards, too.

Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International -- a Day of Truth sponsor -- said the Day of Silence leads to a slanted discussion about homosexuality. That problem is compounded when faculty and staff participate, which is common. Exodus International is a Christian ministry that, according to its website, promotes "freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ."

"I think the Day of Truth is really important, and certainly increasingly so, because students are being bombarded from every side on the issue of homosexuality," Chambers told Baptist Press. "And, seemingly the only voices that are allowed or respected in the public school system are those from a pro-gay side. It's important for everyone to have a voice on this issue and for every opinion to be expressed. If one side is going to be expressed, then the other should be as well."

Bob Stith, the Southern Baptist Convention's national strategist for gender issues, has endorsed the Golden Rule Pledge but encourages participation in the Day of Truth, too. The Golden Rule Pledge was launched partly in reaction to calls on the part of some pro-family groups to pull their children out of school during the Day of Silence. The pledge gives Christian students a way to be involved in something on that particular day, being that the Day of Truth always is held on the next school day following the Day of Silence.

"Apart from God sending a sovereign move of revival -- I don't see this issue of homosexuality going away anytime soon, so we've really got to prepare our kids for the world in which they find themselves," he told BP.

For years, Stith has called the issue of homosexuality the "watershed issue" for the modern-day evangelical church. With "gay marriage" being legalized and pushed at a rapid pace, he believes the issue is more important now than ever, particularly regarding religious freedom and the impact of the Gospel.

"If you disagree with homosexuality you're called a bigot, you're anti-homosexual, you're homophobic," he said. "... Consequently, what it does to the culture at large when they hear that, it tends to cause them to dismiss the Christian voice altogether. It's affecting our ability to speak evangelistically to the culture."

Parents, Chambers said, should not assume that their school is not participating in the Day of Silence. "It's unbelievable how widely supported it is," he said.

In some instances, Christian students who speak up have been punished. In perhaps the most famous case, Chase Harper, sophomore in 2004 at Poway (Calif.) High School, protested his school's involvement in the Day of Silence by wearing a T-shirt that on the front read, "Be Ashamed, Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned," and on the back read, "Homosexuality Is Shameful, Romans 1:27." He was pulled out of class and told not to wear a similar shirt again. The Christian legal firm Alliance Defense Fund launched the Day of Truth the very next year, and more than 13,000 students since have participated. ADF and Exodus are co-sponsoring it this year, and ADF offers free legal representation to students who are not allowed to participate in the Day of Truth.

But the Day of Silence is not just being promoted in California, said Alliance Defense Fund attorney David Cortman.

"It's not limited to any geographic region," he said. " ... We've seen where teachers actively promote the Day of Silence, where they permit the distribution of Day of Silence flyers in homeroom class, where they actively participate in the Day of Silence. And at the same time and in the same schools, when the students attempt to participate in the Day of Truth, they have been censored."

But if a school allows one event to take place, Cortman said, then it must allow the other one, too.

For Chambers, the Day of Truth is personal. He struggled with and overcame unwanted homosexual attractions as a teenager and young adult. He is now married, and he and his wife and have two children.

"Many people don't know that change is possible or that there's any alternative out there for people," he said. "... There was a time when I was trying to fit that with my life, trying to marry my homosexuality and my Christianity and trying to see if I could be a good gay Christian. It didn't work."

--30--

Michael Foust is an assistant editor of Baptist Press. For information about the Day of Truth, visit DayofTruth.org. For information about the Golden Rule Pledge, visit GoldenRulePledge.com. For information about Exodus International, visit ExodusInternational.org/.

I feel the editorial “Marriage Turns a Corner” (BDN, April 9) is misleading with regard to some assumptions being made by too many people these days. I offer these comments with the deepest respect for those individuals who find themselves embroiled in this discussion, but I will address the issue as candidly as I can.

The editorial states that “equality, not momentum, is what should drive decisions on ‘gay marriage’ in Maine.” I would agree that humans should be judged impartially with regard to their inherent human dignity. Partiality or “preferential treatment” is to be avoided when implementing legislation for a society. Our founding documents would affirm this, not the least of which is the opening line of our Declaration of Independence. I don’t believe equality is really the issue at hand here. Those who present it thus are likely capitulating to the pressure of a value system being foisted upon the populace at large.

What is the definition of marriage? Who gets to define it? Can I marry my sister, my daughter or perhaps even some of the gang at the club? These aren’t questions being addressed. Even Sen. Dennis Damon’s bill, LD 1020, suggests that religious institutions should be “protected” from the mandates of this legislation. Why? Because religious institutions have understood for millennia what many Americans seem to be forgetting: Marriage has always been reserved for one man and one woman for life. Because this institution has suffered many pathologies in no way affects its design. The fact is, I cannot marry my dog or my cat because marriage is not for that kind of behavior. Neither is it for homosexual behavior between two consenting adults.

We may permit the deviant behavior of many people in society, choosing not to criminalize that behavior on the basis of being tolerant, but that in no way asserts that we must legitimize it.

To build an argument for “gay marriage” on the basis of equality is to assume a definition of marriage that does not exist. This assumption is patently false, and its assertion is tantamount to a bold-faced lie. There is no discrimination at issue here beyond that which is confined to its proper definition.

The editorial also asserted that “separate is inherently unequal.” That statement borders on the absurd. Everyone is unique and, given that perspective, would be considered to be “unequal” in some way. So what? What is the point? Are we to seek to make everyone the same?

In another sense, however, we can ask if a person should be inhibited from participating in a given behavior. Behavior is, exactly, what laws seek to permit and prohibit. People are frequently not permitted to do certain things. Is that “authorized vehicles only” sign discriminatory? This is silly. An authorized vehicle is by definition allowed where all others are not. Definitions inform our acceptable behavior, and the institution of marriage has been clearly defined for all of human history as mentioned above.

Should Maine residents be allowed to respect and affirm marriage as it has always been properly defined, or should the Maine Legislature be allowed to force Maine residents to accept a redefinition of what is arguably the foundational institution of human civilization?

Homosexual advocates have been remarkably effective in selling their warped interpretations of passages in Scripture that address homosexuality. When you ask a homosexual what the Bible says about homosexuality--and many of them know--they have digested an interpretation that is not only warped, but also completely irrational. Pro-homosexual arguments from the Bible are nothing but smokescreens--as you come close, you see right through them.

God's condemnation of homosexuality is abundantly clear--He opposes it in every age.

Why does God condemn homosexuality? Because it overturns God's fundamental design for human relationships--a design that pictures the complementary relationship between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-33).

Why, then, have homosexual interpretations of Scripture been so successful at persuading so many? Simple: people want to be convinced. Since the Bible is so clear about the issue, sinners have had to defy reason and embrace error to quiet their accusing consciences (Romans 2:14-16). As Jesus said, "Men loved the darkness rather than the Light, [because] their deeds were evil" (John 3:19-20).

As a Christian, you must not compromise what the Bible says about homosexuality--ever. No matter how much you desire to be compassionate to the homosexual, your first sympathies belong to the Lord and to the exaltation of His righteousness. Homosexuals stand in defiant rebellion against the will of their Creator who from the beginning "made them male and female" (Matthew 19:4).

Don't allow yourself to be intimidated by homosexual advocates and their futile reasoning--their arguments are without substance. Homosexuals, and those who advocate that sin, are fundamentally committed to overturning the lordship of Christ in this world. But their rebellion is useless, for the Holy Spirit says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; cf. Galatians 5:19-21).

Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Wall Street Journal carries letters from several readers in response to the ruling: “Absent from the article or the court’s decision is any explanation of why marriage is so important as a civil institution. Aristotle begins ‘The Politics’ not with a single individual, but with a description of a man and a woman together in the family, without which the rest of society cannot exist. Heterosexual sex in the family is normative as a matter of nature or what is known as natural law. All other sexual relationships can only ape it, and aspire to it (which explains the homosexual desire to mimic it).”

I don’t live in California but if I did I would have rejoiced when Proposition 8 was passed last year. For those who don’t know, Prop 8 made gay marriage illegal throughout the state of California. You see, most people who have a shred of decent values realize that homosexuality is a mental illness or simply a decision made by one who usually has other issues. It’s a horrible problem that should be addressed by the medical industry. However, because of politics, this abnormality is accepted as “normal” by many people. Combine the misdiagnosis of psychology with the “cool” kids networks like MTV and homosexuality has become a glorified lifestyle that many people emulate in an attempt to find acceptance amongst their peers.

A majority of those who decide to be gay and especially those who decide to be bi-sexual are disgusting, immoral people who should be shunned by society unless they attempt to seek help for their disorder. Take a look at any gay pride parade and you’ll find that gay’s perversion, drug use and lack of respect for themselves is on display for all to see.

Further proof of this has been on display shortly after Proposition 8 passed. First, homosexuals “defecated and vandalized” Mormon churches and then went on to harass those who had donated to the Proposition 8 campaign. They’ve also attempted to blame black voters for the loss yet this “group” would claim that they are a tolerant bunch of people. If anything, we’ve proven that homosexuals are bigots themselves, attacking those who would disagree with their point of view.

The fact of the matter is that the “gay lifestyle” is simply not a positive one. It spreads disease, immorality and drug use. Decent people of all religions, races and walks of life simply understand that it is something that should not be supported. This is why the people of California voted Yes on Proposition 8. That’s also why a majority of States have decided that gay marriage should be illegal.

In conclusion we find that those who decide to practice a queer lifestyle are very confused people who typically have rather unsavory practices. Instead of seeking help for what is obviously a mental illness, they contribute to downfall of society. So, what should we do about this problem? Simply this: bi-sexuals, gays and lesbians need to either seek help for their condition or get back into the closet.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Straight Way is a blog for like-minded individuals who are opposed to homosexuality, bi-sexuality and homosexual marriage. Posts will focus on news as well as solutions to combating one of the biggest problems society is currently facing. It is also a place for those who are struggling with same-sex attractions to come and find help. This is not a hate-filled blog by any means. We simply wish to express our views freely, even if they are not supported by the liberally biased media. This is also not a place to debate whether or not homosexuality is right or wrong. In our view, homosexuality is indeed morally wrong.